MEDICAL SURVEY OF THE PEOPLE OF RONGELAP™“ANDAAR ISLANDS
ELEVEN AND TWELVE YEARS AFTER EXPOSURE TO FALLOUT,MOATON
(MARCH 1965 AND MARCH 1966),- _
Introduction
ceived only an externa! gammadose of about 69
rads. There were 28 American servicemen on the
island of Rongerik furtherto the eastwho received
about the same amount of radiation as did the
Rongelap people on Ailingnae. Lastly, 157 Mar-
The results of a medical survey of the people of
Rongelapin the Marshall Islands, carried out in
March 1965 and March 1966, 11 and 12 years
os
after the accident, are presented in this report.
4
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shallese on Utirik Island, about200-miles further
east, received an estimated 14 rags of whole-body
radiation. Thefallout was notvisible on this island
These people had been accidently exposedto fallout radiation following a detonation of a high
vield thermonuclear device during experiments at
Bikini in the Pacific Proving Grounds in March
1954. An unpredicted shift in winds caused a
deposition of significant amounts offallout on four
inhabited Marshall Islands to the east of Bikini
(see Figure 1) and also on 23 Japanese fishermen
aboard their fishing vessel, the Lucky Dragon. Of
and noskin effects developed. ,
The exposed people wefe acwated from these
islands by plage and ship about2 daysafter the
accident and takém to Kwajalein Naval Base
about 150. miles.jg the south, where they re-
ceived extensive éymminationsfor.the following 3
months. During {His.periodvigorous efforts were
necessary to decont@miaate-theskin completely
the inhabitants of the island of Rongelap, 105
(see Figure 2).
In view of the generally negative findings on the
Americanservicemen, they were Jaggmreturned to
their dutystations. The Utirik peopléwerealso allowed to return to their homeisland, where radio-
nautical miles away from the detonation, 64 re-
ceived the largest fallout exposure: an estimated
dose of 175 rads of whole-body gammaradiation,
contamination of the skin sufficient to result in
beta burns, andslight internal absorption of radio-
active materials through inhalation and ingestion.
Another 18 Rongelap people away on a nearby
island (Ailingnae), whereless fallout occurred, re-
active contamination wasslight enoughto allow
safe habitation. Because Rongelap Atoll was considered to be too highly contaminated, a tempo-
“ _ f&S UTIRIK
Figure 1. Mapoffallout area,
Marshall Islands, March 1, 1954.
MAJURO
s
y
Figure 2. Marshallese bathing in lagoon at Kwajalein in
March 1954 to decontaminate skin and hairafterfallout
contamination.
PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED